By and large, most present-day audio speakers employ a permanent magnet and a voice coil to drive a speaker cone in response to audio signals. The magnets used in these speakers are generally a costly component. There is also an increasing shortage of cobalt, which is used to make alnico magnets, the most commonly used magnets for loudspeakers. This shortage is driving the price of magnets to an extremely high value so as to make it desirable to have an alternative means of driving the speaker cone. In oder to obtain high speaker efficiencies, it is necessary to have tight tolerances in the cone/magnet interface, which also results in higher manufacturing costs. There is also substantial interest in nonmagnetic speakers by manufacturers of audio systems due to the above cost and manufacturing problems. In addition, relays and meter movements, and the like, also incorporate magnets which are affected by the cobalt shortage, resulting in higher prices for these devices.